Examining Caregiving Roles to Differentiate the Effects of Using a Mobile App for Community Oversight for Privacy and Security

TL;DR

The paper addresses how unequal caregiving roles within trusted communities influence collaborative mobile privacy and security management. It employs a 4-week field study of CO-oPS with 101 participants in 22 groups to compare caregivers and caregivees, measuring perceptions (trust, belonging, collective and self-efficacy) and behaviors (app reviews, permissions, messaging, app hiding). Key findings show caregivers start with higher trust and efficacy, but caregivees exhibit greater gains in self-efficacy and collective efficacy, with notable differences in app-hiding behavior and review patterns that reveal role-specific dynamics. The work contributes empirical evidence and design guidance for developing role-aware, community-based privacy tools that empower those who need assistance while mitigating potential power imbalances.

Abstract

We conducted a 4-week field study with 101 smartphone users who self-organized into 22 small groups of family, friends, and neighbors to use ``CO-oPS,'' a mobile app for co-managing mobile privacy and security. We differentiated between those who provided oversight (i.e., caregivers) and those who did not (i.e., caregivees) to examine differential effects on their experiences and behaviors while using CO-oPS. Caregivers reported higher power use, community trust, belonging, collective efficacy, and self-efficacy than caregivees. Both groups' self-efficacy and collective efficacy for mobile privacy and security increased after using CO-oPS. However, this increase was significantly stronger for caregivees. Our research demonstrates how community-based approaches can benefit people who need additional help managing their digital privacy and security. We provide recommendations to support community-based oversight for managing privacy and security within communities of different roles and skills.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: CO-oPS App Interfaces: (a) People, (b) Discovery, (c) Permissions, and (d) Community Feed.
• Figure 2: Relationship between the CO-oPS app usage across pre-post study and (a) Community Collective Efficacy (b) Self-Efiicacy for caregivers and caregivees